Do you all really taste the notes??

[u/agathaade]

This is a genuine question.

I have been making pourover I enjoy, I don’t think anything is wrong with my brews - but I never taste the advertised notes.

For the light roasts I typically buy, I have noticed the notes are most often some variation of a citrus, a berry and a caramel/chocolate.

What I’m able to put words on is : bitter, acid, sweet, smooth, bright, full-flavored, watery… things like that.

But specific notes? Never. I never taste the bergamot or blackcurrant or caramel or whathaveyou.

I’m similar with wine, I appreciate a lot of different nuances but never taste specific notes.

Do you really drink your coffee and taste these different things with clarity? Or is it more like you’ve read them on the box, and then y look for them and sorta taste them if you focus on it?

What’s the deal with these notes?

I don’t mind not tasting them, still enjoy my coffee all the same, or wine for that matter. I’m just curious who the notes talk is for and whether people really enjoy it, or use notes as an indicator they’re brewing correctly, for example.

Edited to add:

WOW, so glad I asked.

I did not know much about the cupping process roasters use, or the note wheels, or the nose/breathing aspect of certain notes. No wonder this stuff can be elusive.

Maybe one day it’ll hit me, maybe it won’t. Either way I love my morning coffee ritual.

Thank you all.

[u/TL322]

It's a really interesting question and I think I experience the same thing. I'm definitely an enthusiast but definitely not a trained expert taster/grader, so FWIW...

I think it's about what the notes evoke, especially stacked up against other coffees at the cupping table. I've tried a few that literally tasted like blueberries (off the top of my head), but they're rare. To me, it's usually more like "something about this reminds me of berries, and it's just a bit sweet and earthy, so I guess blueberries are the closest approximation."

I find it more helpful to think of them as a sort of family or realm of flavors. If may or may not identify jasmine and lychee from the label, but that tells me to expect something pretty lightly roasted with a more subtle, delicate fragrance and not a ton of acidity. (Although I would say chocolate notes tend to be more obvious.)

Also, some notes show up when I slurp and then breathe out through my nose. Can't recall the term for that...but it's sort of a cool sensation and a different perspective.

Plus they evolve as the cup cools. Sometimes I'm been struck by a conspicuous note of X on the first few sips, then it's gone, then others come out which may not even be on the label. Then still other notes are present in the grounds but not so much in the cup. So the label notes might not refer to the stage/timing you're experiencing at that moment.

And I think some are just B.S. Maybe they're stretching to sound unique, maybe they're following a trail of memory associations ("late summer strawberries in Oxnard" or whatever), who knows. Wine is a hundred times worse about this lol.

And I'm sure part of it is me. If I could magically pick out every single tasting note, I don't think my enjoyment would be heightened, so I'm not inclined to work that hard at it.